Flames Visual Recap 18: Flames spoil Islanders homecoming with big 5–2 win

The Calgary Flames got the honour of being the New York Islanders’ first opponent in their new barn. With a Covid depleted lineup but the excitement of a new arena in the air, the Islanders looked to get their season back on track with a win at home. Unfortunately for them, the Flames put forth another solid road game and won by a final score of 5–2.

Game recap

The Flames got off to a really hot start once again. Darryl Sutter preaching a full effort for a full 60 minutes seems to really be setting in as they came out strong with lots of shots and quality scoring chances.

Brad Richardson scored the game’s first goal and the first goal in UBS arena history to give the Flames an early 1–0 lead in the first period. Andrew Mangiapane scored as well go double the Flames’ lead before Brock Nelson cut the score to 2–1 at the first intermission. Mangiapane scored his second of the game in the second period, giving the Flames a 3–1 lead heading into the second intermission. Both of his goals were scored on the power play.

The theme of the first two periods of the game was special teams. The referees were not letting anything go, calling every single penalty they could. However, this completely changed in the third period, where nothing was called. It was a very odd flip-flop on the officials’ side, but what else is new in the NHL than inconsistent officiating?

Nelson scored early in the third to make it a 3–2 game, but Jacob Markstrom held on for the Flames in the third period. The Islanders pushed back hard to try and take back the game, but Markstrom was incredible and shut the door.

It was a very rough game for the Erik Gudbranson and Nikita Zadorov pairing. They got buried at even strength and everything bad seemed to happen when they were on the ice. Perhaps we’ll see a change on the third pairing in Boston.

Game visualizations are below.